Ancient Chinese curse: may you live in interesting times. This web site is my attempt to document, from my perspective, these "interesting times".

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

The myth of Dean's fundraising problems

Reading the headline on this report (Fundraisers jilt Dean) and some of the subsequent media coverage of it you would be forgiven if you thought it meant that DNC fundraisers were upset with Dean. Well, read a little further and you see this:

The committee’s finance directors for the two biggest hubs of Democratic fundraising have quit. Bridget Siegel, finance director for New York and the surrounding area, resigned last week, and Lori Kreloff, finance director for California, left the committee last month.

A third top DNC fundraiser, Nancy Eiring, the director of grassroots fundraising, has also resigned, citing strategic differences with aides to Dean, according to a report yesterday in ABC News’ “The Note.”

Siegel told The Hill that she remained at the DNC for the first few months of the year only to help with the transition to leadership under a new chairman and that “Dean is moving the party in a great direction.” Siegel will raise money for Andrew Cuomo’s race for New York attorney general.

Kreloff has set up her own consulting firm, LBK Consulting Inc., and has signed on Maryland Senate hopeful Rep. Ben Cardin (D) as a new client. She said Dean is “doing a wonderful job building the grassroots.”

Eiring did not return a call for comment.

Got that? Two of the three fundraisers who quit have nothing but positive things to say about Dean. Siegel sounds positively glowing.

So why are they leaving? Because Dean is changing the DNC emphasis towards small money donations which means there just isn't as much for the big money fundraisers to do. They recognize this and are going independent. It makes perfect sense for them to do this and it does not indicate that Dean's DNC is having a fundraising problem. It's just another "changing the guard" moment.

Naturally, some of the big money donors may not like that there influence within the party will be lessoned by this change, but that's kind of the whole point isn't it?